T-Mobile’s new Inseego 5G hotspot.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s 5G network is expanding beyond phones and tablets. On Thursday the nation’s second-largest carrier announced that it has added the Inseego 5G MiFi-M2000 mobile hotspot to its network, its first 5G-capable hotspot.
The Inseego device is available now for $336. While not the flashiest mobile hotspot it has a 2.4-inch color touchscreen and 5050 mAh battery, and it supports broadcasting with the recent Wi-Fi 6 standard. It charges through a USB-C port, and the large battery on the MiFi can allow the device to double as a portable charger for powering other devices.
Up to 30 devices can connect to the Inseego at one time. If 5G isn’t available, the hotspot will fall back to use T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network.
T-Mobile says the device can tap into its Extended Range 5G (its new name for low-band 5G) as well as its Ultra Capacity 5G networks (the new name it uses for both midband and higher-frequency millimeter wave 5G). As the latter brand combines multiple 5G flavors, it is unclear if the device will support both versions of 5G or just midband, which T-Mobile has more widely deployed around the country.
To coincide with the new hotspot, the carrier is also adding a new “limited time” hotspot plan that will offer 100GB of high-speed data for $50 per month (assuming you also use automatic payments). T-Mobile touts that a rival $50 plan from Verizon only gets 5GB per month of hotspot data, while AT&T’s similarly priced hotspot offering only has 15GB per month.
For those who don’t need 100GB, the carrier is offering a variety of hotspot plans, ranging from $5 per month for 500MB up to that $50 per month plan. After you use up your high-speed data, however, your connection will slow to “2G speeds” until the month resets.
It was not, however, clear when the “limited time” promotion will end or what the price will be after it expires. CNET has reached out to T-Mobile for additional details and will update when they respond.
See also: Verizon vs. AT&T vs. T-Mobile compared: How to pick the best 5G carrier for you
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